Straight stuff on addictions

Have you ever noticed that you don’t meet many old crack cocaine addicts?  Almost as if she had a map that led from one crack head boyfriend to another our guest worked her way through this crazy landscape.  To her, at times crack was a solution to her anxiety and at other’s it was her complete undoing.  At times she used crack to stay in relationships she wanted to leave and at others she entered psychiatric treatment to avoid using it.  From a schizophrenic boyfriend to a car crash; from an East Coast college expulsion to rehab our guest has packed a lifetime of consequences into  years of using drugs and alcohol and 30 years of life.  Please join us this week to hear Kaitlin tell her story of an unexpected miracle.

What medications are safe for me?  Are these addictive? If I take something for depression or anxiety is that a relapse?  Can medications for psychiatric issues interact safely with recovery?  Can you have an addictions diagnosis and a psychiatric diagnosis too?  Does one cause the other?  What about drugs that are used to treat heroin problems?  Can drugs safely be used for detox from opiates or from alcohol? These are just a few of the questions that our guest this week is imminently qualified to answer.  Doctor Ramesh Vermuri will discuss these and other questions common in the recovering community.  The use of psychotropics is always a hot topic in the recovery world.  Let’s operate on the facts rather than the myths.  Tune in this Sunday to hear a lively discussion on this important topic.

The non-medical use of opiate pain meds, benzodiazepine based anti-anxiety drugs and stimulant meds used for Attention Deficit Disorder are being abused at epidemic proportions.  Prescriptions for opiate pain meds have quadrupled in the last twenty years and prescriptions for the stimulant drugs have increase X10 in the same time period.  Recovery from prescription drug addiction is made exceptionally difficult because abusers have a written note from a physician to support their rationalizations…easy to justify…hard to stop.  It can be a thin line between necessary use, over use and addiction.  Scamming, rationalizing and manipulating are an integral part of maintaining a pill habit.  Join us this Sunday to meet an exceptional young man, Matt G. who has managed to move from “Lost and can’t remember” to recovering and happy.

Addictions like shadows keep us away from the sunlight of the spirit. Sometimes we've been away from the light for so long that  darkness becomes the norm.  Forced by the circumstances that we call "trouble" , "issues" or "problems" we surrender and so begins the journey of recovery as we stumble towards the light.  We find that we need to access a different sort of power to survive and finally to thrive and find happiness...a higher power. Join us to hear John D. talk about his experiences of "stumbling towards the light" and how he applies the spiritual principles he has aquired and learned to his life today.

Last night I heard a story about young man, 30 or so who told his recovery group that these would be his first sober Holidays since he was 9 years old.  I'm told that the older guys around the table simply smiled and said "one day at a time" and "Keep comin back" but  smiles and pats on the back said more. I'm told that the love and support was obvious.  I welled up a little as I heard the story and thought of all the "first sober Holidays" this year and years past, the Joy and Happiness of the husbands and wives of those "first sober Holidays" folks but most of all the kids. Let's spread the gratitude and love for our fellows this Holiday season. Join us this Sunday to hear us tell stories of hope and recovery and hear the music of recovery, joy and the Holiday season.  

Yoga was always important to Les; in fact he’ll tell you it was invaluable to his recovery.  He was a diligent student of Eastern spiritual thought and practice but was initially unable to get clean and sober with that discipline alone.  He finally found a successful way to blend his Yoga practice with a twelve step program.  A poet, a sensitive and a bodyworker, and most of all a sober member of his twelve step group Les will tell you he’s never been happier.

She grew up in a privileged home; good values, zero coping skills, a perfect garden for addictions to grow.  From early alcohol use and traumatic experiences to prescription drugs and well beyond she sought to avoid the pain the only way she knew.  With “only the best” as her motto, she travelled from luxury rehab to luxury rehab.  In between rehabs the relapses became more and more severe, finally with heroin.  Living in a beautiful home, barren of furniture because it had been pawned to buy drugs, she was literally a prisoner in pearls.  She’ll tell you today that there’s no shortcut to finding hope and happiness.

We have to face the facts; heroin is not only dangerous but deadly and it’s killing people with alarming regularity.  Even knowing heroin’s lethal potential the addiction is powerful enough to convince even well-informed minds to continue to use.  Tonight’s guest will talk to us about the hellish life of a heroin addict and the joy of recovery from that life.  Steve’s story of recovery begins with the loss of another friend to heroin.

Travel with us this Sunday night through the world of drugs, sex, glamour and money.  We'll take you to a world that most don't even know exists, the underground culture of methamphetamine and the gay community.  "Meth" is the unspoken but go-to party drug for young gay men.  "Seth" will take us on his journey from alcohol and cocaine to the regular use of meth and finally to recovery.  As Seth will tell you, the way you get there and what you used may vary but the bottom is the bottom and recovery is recovery.  Join us to hear Seth's inspiring story.

This week we'll be talking about the importance of diet and fitness to help get back into balance, particularly in early recovery but also as it applies to maintaining quality longterm sobriety.  Abuse of any substance can lead to serious nutritional deficiencies and health problems which effect mental function and mood as well as slow the recovery process.  Fortunately, most of these problems are correctable with education, mindfulness and the adoption of some new patterns. On the other side of the coin, addictive behavior tends to bleed into other aspects of our lives, overeating, overspending, over everything, especially around the holidays. Subsequently helath can suffer, we get out of balance and it can adversly affect our sobriety.  Join us Sunday night as we talk to Chris A., a nutrition and wellness coach.  Let's look at how taking care of the body can keep you in your right mind.

Even then he knew that if he did something dangerous or daring his childhood friend would not only try it too but might try someting even more daring.  Together, the risk almost always doubled.  As time passed, bikes turned to cars and innocent fun to booze and drugs and for both, risky behavior to addiction. For many years they went their separate ways until fate, chance or something else brought them together again.  Unbeknownst to the other, both had found recovery and today they share a different and deeper bond.  Matt and Jim will tell their incredible story of the transformation of matches and gas to recovering freindship.

Almost from the gate he was raised to bet.  It's just the way it was.  Later, the thrill of the big win and the crushing anxiety of the debt, the collectors and the lies would catch up and over take him. Join us this week to hear John Q's story of descent into the world of sports betting, casinos and the addictive nature of chasing the win.  Stay with us as he tells us his inspirational story of recovery.

OK Let's face it.  The odds aren't good for a young person to stay sober....right?  Well, the odds aren't really that good for anybody to stay sober so if we waited for the odds to be good there'd be no sober people at all.  There are, however, some things that people can do that will increase their chances.  Like any other potentially terminal disease, chemical dependency will take you out if left untreated.  Our guest Brady C. will share with us some of the things that he's learned; some of his experiences, relationships and hurdles as a young person in sobriety.  Join us this week to hear Brady; an exceptioonal young man with a real message of hope.    

We’ve been on the internet air now for nearly six months and we thought it was time for some reflection.  We wanted to acknowledge our guests, our fantastic entertainment and most of all our listeners.  Much to our surprise, having started this thing on a bit of a whim, we’ve had nearly fourteen thousand listens so thanks to all of you.  Apparently this is the way it works when something is in alignment.  I would certainly say that we’ve made progress (not perfection).  We decided that it was time to take our own broadcast inventory and to ask ourselves what we’ve learned and I must say that we have learned a lot from a personal and technical standpoint.  We have learned from our guests and from our listeners.  One thing that Chris (my son, program engineer and producer) said was that he learned how very much alike we all are.  He went on to say that “we all have our stuff”.  I learned how brave and committed our guests have been to carry their message and to step into a relatively unknown process on my word alone.  Bless them for trusting me.  I think we’ve accomplished what we set out to do in an “emergent design” kind of way.  We wanted to offer a hopeful and open minded approach to addiction and recovery.  I wish I could say we carefully planned the design and order but we didn’t.  It just happened and like most things along the recovery road it all just worked out the way it was supposed to.  We’ve had nothing but joy and excitement from each and every show and our intent is to continue to bring that joy and excitement to you every Sunday night.  Keep listening and pass it along when you can.

  Imagine the transition from a traditional family and life, a husband and a couple kids in a Texas town in the 80’s to a contemplative religious life in a small town in the Midwest.    Imagine starting a twelve step recovery and ending up one of the few Buddhist Nuns in the continental US.  Tonight’s story is one of a unique and deeply moving process of recovery and transformation.  Our guest weaves the wisdom she received from the twelve step program with her Buddhist practice.  Join us to hear a compelling story of dedication, growth and recovery.